November 21, 2017--South American ETFs!
Chile
EuroAmerica lists small cap ETF
South America has the second smallest ETF market, ahead of only Africa. But the market is about to get one larger thanks to the Chilean issuer EuroAmerica listings the EuroAmerica MSCI Chile Small Cap ETF (EASCCHI)....

ARK lists Israeli tech ETF
Israeli tech companies are renowned for their inventiveness. But they've always been a bit trickier for ETFs. Israel doesn't have ETFs-it has index linked certificates, which are similar but different -and a lot of the material on the Israeli stock market is only available in Hebrew....

But buying into disruptive Israeli tech is about to get easier thanks to a new US listing, the ARK Israel Innovative Technology ETF (IZRL)...

The $208m Innovator IBD 50 Fund (FFTY) has given up on active management and transformed into a purely passive ETF.

Before 15 November FFTY was something of an unusual hybrid, using both an index and active management within an ETF. FFTY's active management tended to hug the benchmark index anyway....

Thomson Reuters-Investors Pad the Coffers of Equity Funds for the First Month in 11, While Equity ETFs Make It 20 in a Row

February 16, 2018--For the first month in 11 conventional mutual fund investors padded the coffers of equity funds, while being net purchasers of fixed income funds for the thirteenth month in a row. Authorized participants (APs-those investors that actually create and redeem ETF shares) remained fully engaged, injecting a whopping $58.6 billion into equity ETFs, with U.S. Diversified Equity (USDE) ETFs (+$27.4 billion) outdrawing their World Equity ETF counterparts (+$20.0 billion).

February 16, 2018--Summary
Silver's discount to gold may spark investor bargain buying.
Continued strength in the industrial cycle and a constrained mine supply may keep the metal in a supply deficit.
Silver prices may reach $19-20/ounce (oz) range by year-end.
More upside potential than gold

February 16, 2018--TAKING STOCK
U.S. consumer price inflation exceeded expectations in January; retail sales and industrial production fell
Euro Area industrial production rose in December; GDP growth reached a 10-year high in 2017
Japan's GDP growth slowed in the fourth quarter of 2017

February 14, 2018--The urbanization experience of countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia is profoundly affected by demographic transition over the last 25 years. By 1990, about 68% of the population in the region lived in urban areas.

February 13, 2018--The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has issued today a consultation report proposing policy measures for its members to consider when addressing the risks arising from the offer and sale of OTC leveraged products to retail clients.

February 13, 2018--This month's OMR is abbreviated to allow time for us to complete our annual five-year outlook that will be published in our report Oil 2018 on 5 March. Meanwhile, new and revised data shows a modest tightening of the balance in the early part of 2018, but the main message remains unchanged from last month and it is very clear: in 2018, fast rising production in non-OPEC countries, led by the US, is likely to grow by more than demand.

February 12, 2018--February 12, 2018--A rout in cyclical markets set off a pronounced sell-off in commodities, including industrial metals, oil and gold.
ETF investors however, saw an opportunity to buy equities following price declines.Record US oil production continues to weigh on oil.

February 9, 2018--Close to 50% of ETF launches in the first month of 2018 rely on Solactive servicesThis year has started strong for Solactive and the ETF industry. The German index engineer has achieved a record number of index-linked launches, making it the number one provider of indices for ETFs in January 2018.

ETFGI reports that assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed globally broke through the US$5 trillion milestone at the end of January 2018

February 9, 2018--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that assets invested in ETFs and ETPs listed globally broke through the US$5 trillion milestone at the end of January 2018 (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)

February 5, 2018--Key Highlights
Gold: Don't Fret Just Yet About Rising US Bond Yields
Gold has risen 26% since the start of the current Federal Reserve ("Fed") tightening cycle in December 2015. To many this came as a surprise, since the rule of thumb is that rising rates are bad for gold prices.

February 4, 2018--Using a process known as securities lending,,the ETF will loan stock in a company to a hedge fund (for a fee or other benefit) and receive collateral in return, usually in the form of either stocks or cash.

February 2, 2018--The Board of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has issued today final recommendations that seek to improve liquidity risk management practices of open-ended collective investment schemes (CIS) as part of its mission to protect investors, ensure fair and efficient financial markets and reduce systemic risk.

February 2, 2018--TAKING STOCK
U.S. nonfarm payrolls picked up in January; Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged
Euro Area GDP growth reached a 10-year high in 2017; inflation slowed in January

February 2, 2018--Financial Times Bitcoin is having a bad year, and it's only February 2. The cryptocurrency has come under further pressure on Friday and deepened its 2018 loss to more than 40 per cent.

EDHEC-Risk Institute provides an academic framework to maximise the benefits of factor investing for institutional investors

February 1, 2018--The relevance of factor investing is gaining acceptance amongst sophisticated investors. The approach recommends that allocation decisions be taken in terms of risk factors, as opposed to standard asset class decompositions.

February 1, 2018--In recent years, buy-and-hold investors such as pension funds, endowments, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have gradually increased their investments in alternative assets to diversify their portfolios and boost returns. 'Alternatives' make up 23% of SWF portfolios and 24% of global pension funds, up from single digits in 2000.

January 31, 2018--U.S. oil prices fell for a third day on Wednesday after data from an industry body showed crude stocks rose more than expected last week, while a selloff in other commodities, stocks and bonds added to the bearish tone.

January 30, 2018--Global ETF market hit record high of US$4.6 trillion in AUM
Key trends for 2018: fixed income and thematic investing
Canadian ETF industry expected to reach C$400 billion in AUM by 2023.

Not Making A Mint: Bitcoin Dives To Below $10,000; Ethereum, Crypto Stocks Plunge

January 30, 2018--Bitcoin lost nearly a tenth of its value Tuesday, crashing below the $10,000 level amid new regulatory measures in the U.S. and South Korea and sweeping advertising curbs by Facebook (FB).

January 30, 2018--Based on preferences expressed by major institutions in a new survey, EDHECinfra is releasing a taxonomy of global indices and sub-indices to structure the infrastructure asset class.

ETFGI reports that assets invested in Active ETFs and ETPs listed globally increased by 57.3% during 2017 to reach a new high of US$75.20 Bn

January 29, 2018--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that assets invested in Active ETFs and ETPs listed globally increased by 57.3% during 2017 to reach a new high of US$75.20 Bn at the end of December. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)

January 26, 2018--We are at an interesting point in the economic and capital market adventure that has been transpiring for almost ten years. We hesitate to use the word "cycle" because that implies that economic activity, measured by our country's outputs and capital markets, will actually turn down.

January 26, 2018--ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm on trends in the global ETF/ETP ecosystem, reported today that assets invested in Smart Beta ETFs and ETPs listed globally increased by 32.3% during 2017 to reach a new high of US$658.35 Bn at the end of December. (All dollar values in USD unless otherwise noted.)

January 25, 2018--Bitcoin's parabolic price rise was the big story of 2017-putting the spotlight on the cryptocurrency market. While gold's performance was a solid 13%, it was a fraction of the 13-fold increase of bitcoin by the end of the year.

Switzerland overtakes Hong Kong to claim top spot in freedom index, United States rises to 17th

January 25, 2018--Switzerland is the freest country in the world, having replaced Hong Kong atop the Human Freedom Index, released today by the Fraser Institute and a network of international public policy think-tanks.

January 25, 2018--Summary:Commodities have enjoyed a great start to 2018. From the low point mid-December they have rallied 6.7%. The performance has been broad-based too-driven not only by the Iran issues inflating the oil price-but a rally in industrial/precious metals and agriculture.

January 24, 2018--STOXX Ltd., the operator of Deutsche Boerse Group's index business, and a global provider of innovative and tradable index concepts' today announced that it has changed its Country Classification model.

IMF Working Papers-Shadow Economies Around the World: What Did We Learn Over the Last 20 Years?

January 24, 2018--Summary:
We undertake an extended discussion of the latest developments about the existing and new estimation methods of the shadow economy. New results on the shadow economy for 158 countries all over the world are presented over 1991 to 2015. Strengths and weaknesses of these methods are assessed and a critical comparison and evaluation of the methods is carried out. The average size of the shadow economy of the 158 countries over 1991 to 2015 is 31.9 percent.

January 24, 2018--Summary:
This paper examines the evolving importance of common global components underlying domestic financial conditions. It develops financial conditions indices (FCIs) that make it possible to compare a large set of advanced and emerging market economies. It finds that a common component, "global financial conditions," accounts for about 20 percent to 40 percent of the variation in countries' domestic FCIs, with notable heterogeneity across countries.

January 23, 2018--In a new survey conducted among investment professionals between June and September 2017, EDHEC-Risk Institute and ERI Scientific Beta have analysed the interests and motivations for investing in new forms of equity factor strategies.

January 23, 2018--The rapid development and spread of new technologies has been significantly transforming the financial sector.
The World Bank Group published the first fintech note that looks at Distributed Ledger Technology and Blockchain, and analyzes its potential relevance for international development.

January 23, 2018--Global economic activity continues to firm up. Global output is estimated to have grown by 3.7 percent in 2017, which is 0.1 percentage point faster than projected in the fall and 1⁄2 percentage point higher than in 2016. The pickup in growth has been broad based, with notable upside surprises in Europe and Asia. Global growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019 have been revised upward by 0.2 percentage point to 3.9 percent.

January 22, 2018--Asian clients of TD Ameritrade can trade during their day
List of equities that can be traded after-hours to grow
Stock traders who want to pull all-nighters can now do so through TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

January 22, 2018--January 22, 2018--Looking beyond T+2, DTCC examines ways to optimize and accelerate securities settlement to free up liquidity, reduce risk, and improve straight-through processing
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced its vision for the evolution of the U.S. equities market structure, unveiling a series of proposals to provide seamless access to new shortened settlement processing options, both pre-and post-trade.

January 22, 2018--Index Industry Association (IIA), a global organization of index administrators, today announced the results of a revealing new survey of its fourteen member firms that quantifies the total number of indexes available globally for the first time ever.

January 22, 2018--As the year 2018 begins, the world economy is gathering speed. The new World Economic Outlook Update revises our forecast for the world economy's growth in both 2018 and 2019 to 3.9 percent.

January 18, 2018-- Monthly Highlights
In the January 2018 Global Economic Prospects, global growth is projected to edge up to 3.1 percent this year, amid firming investment, trade, and commodity prices.